The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-01-29
The Sunday School.
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 8, 1887.
BY REV. ROBERT I. POLK.
LOTS CHOICE.
EGYPT.
GGenesis xiii. 1-13.]


OF all the countries of antiquity Egypt was
most intimately related to the Bible history.
1t was most closely connected with the for
tunes of the Hebrew race and the kingdom
of Israel. Before Abraham was born an i'm
mense population, supporting mighty king
dom, fiourished in the valley of the Nile. The
country appears to have been originally set
tied by the descendants of Mizraim, the sec
ond son of Ham, who was the second son OF
Noah. On this account it is called "the land
of Ham" psalm CIV. %, 27. Colonies of
Shemites from Chaldea afterward settled in
the rich pasture lands of the broad valley or
plain of the Delta, as the branching mouth
of the Nile is called. These and other
emigrations of Shemite families to this
fertile region will account for the marked
Caucasian type of the inhabitants of Egypt
in historic times. Abraham's caravan may
have been the first appearance of these
nomadic people in Egypt, who afterward
became 80 powerful as to control the gov
eminent for many years. The location OF
Egypt was southeast of Canaan. In NOV
ing south from Bethel, Abraham would go in
the direction of Egypt. A drought which
dried up the pastures and caused famine
for his fiocks, impelled him to go down into
Egypt to the valley of the Nile, where the
fields were fertile That there was abund-
ance in Egypt when there was famine in
Canaan is due to the fact that Egypt was
made fertile by the overflow of the Nile,
which seldom failed, while Canaan was de-
pendent upon the rain which often failed.
This circumstance made Egypt an attractive
and especially prosperous country, and the
food supply and dependence of surrounding
nations. 1t was famine in Canaan and the
corn of Egypt, that sent the sons of Jacob,
Abraham's grandson, into that land where
they dwelt as children of Israel for two hum
dred years, prosperous at first, but finally
reduced to servitude, suffering affection as
the people of GoD," till Moses, divinely di-
rected, led them forth to return to tie Land
of Promise, and gave them laws from GoD
to govern them as His chosen nation.
When Abraham entered Egypt he found a
numerous and thrifty population, an estab-
lished government, with monarch support
ing a harem and court with its retinue of
princes and servants. An advanced civiliza-
ton had already been attained, perhaps be-
yond anything which Abraham had before
Witnessed. The Pyramids were probably
then standing, the monuments of past glory;
and "the wisdom of Egypt" may have been
a familiar proverb then, as it surely was soon
afterward. A long line of kings and even
dynasties represented the history and chang
ing glory of the kingdom. Pharaoh the
kinql was the Hebrew title applied to the
rulers of Egypt. The Pharaoh of Abraham's
sojourn in Egypt was probably one of the
last of the twelfth dynasty, which closed
about B. G. 1880, and is represented as the
most famous in Egyptian history. The brief
history of Abraham's sojourn in Egypt is
hardly creditable to him. The record is
probably made, not to reveal the fault of
Abraham, but to declare the overriding Prov
idence of GoD, who had made promise to
Abraham, and who was able to fulfill it even
though Abraham might falter in his trust
and betray an element of unrighteousness in
his character.
Coming into Egypt, Abraham conceived
that the princes of the country might be en-
amored of the beauty of his wife Sarai, and
to secure her for a wife, or for the harem of
the king, they might kill him. To preserve
his life it was determined that they claim to
be brother and sister. AS was expected,
Sarai was taken into Pharaohs household,
and Abraham, who was represented as her
brother, was richly compensated for the loss
of his sister with cattle and servants and
treasures. A plague fell upon Pharaoh's
household, which he in some way connected
with the fair accession to his harem, and by
some means discovered the deception that
had been practiced. Abraham was severely
censured for his part in the transaction, his
wife was restored to him, and an escort fur
nished to conduct him with his greatly in
creased possessions out of the country. The
faithless timidity of Abraham was overruled,
and the superstition of Pharaoh was employed
to promote the Divine purpose. Abraham
returned to the Land of Promise greatly
strengthened in power and influence, to
maintain his position as wealthy and pow
erful prince among the inhabitants of the
land.